


Pro Hunters

by sub_divided



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: M/M, Missionfic, gen - Freeform, kind of like Whale Island part two you feel me?, kite's crew, set just before the start of the chimera ant arc, the great outdoors, when Gon and Killua are identifying new species of bugs with Kite and Kite's crew
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:00:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23688826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sub_divided/pseuds/sub_divided
Summary: "I have to admit,” Kite said, “I thought it would be a good idea to split the teams, and see how much you could do apart from each other. But if I’d seen the synergy, I might have kept you together.”“Thanks,” Killua said. This was normal, he and Gon were always attracting mentors who saw their potential together. They didn’t need the validation, but he’d often caught himself wondering, especially recently, what it would be like to continue that teamwork forever. What would it be like to always have a partner? Someone he could trust implicitly? Who would always be there for Killua, just like Killua was always there for him? It was a scary, but also an exhilarating thought…***Set during the month Gon and Killua spend working with Kite and Kite's crew in the manga.   Gon and Killua decide to hunt a large dangerous animal together, but it's nothing they can't handle.  After all, they are professional hunters, are they not?
Relationships: Gon Freecs/Killua Zoldyck
Comments: 17
Kudos: 66





	Pro Hunters

On the first warm spring day, Gon and Killua went off alone, apart from Kite and the others. It was hot, sweaty work to hack a path through the forest, so when they heard the distant sound of running water they headed toward it by silent agreement. They communicated more and more in this way recently, without needing words. At the top of a short rock scramble they found a hidden grotto, with trees growing from cliffs on either side that extended high above. Clear water tumbled from a ten-foot waterfall into the pool below. 

Killua might have been the first to peel off his shirt but Gon wasn’t far behind. The two of them rushed the water together, grateful for the sudden cold shock. The jungle basin of central Kakin never got really cold but the stream feeding this pool must have come from higher in the mountains, where snow could linger into the summer. 

They spent the rest of the afternoon laughing and goofing around in the water. This wouldn’t count as a productive work day, but that was fine: neither Gon nor Killua felt any sense of urgency. Just to be together, in the good weather, with nothing pressing to do at the moment but a job ahead of them was fine. 

Just as they were leaving the pool, Gon spotted a stalking shadow in the bushes where they’d left their belongings. He signaled Killua and they went still. 

“What do you think it is?” Killua asked. It looked like a long-limbed, quadruped bear with curly fur, but it was hard to see in the bushes. And looks could be deceiving… 

“Probably a predator?” Gon answered. “I think it waits for animals coming to drink at the pool. Maybe our splashing caught its attention.”

“One of us should distract it, the other should grab the camera,” Killua reasoned. 

“OK, I’ll distract,” Gon said. “On three?"

Killua nodded and moved away, fading into the water. His zetsu had always been good, though not better than Gon’s. Gon counted a silent three, then rushed the shore with a yell, startling the beast. With his first foot out of the water, he kicked up some loose pebbles, and a second later he jumped straight up, grabbing a branch overhead and pulling himself up.

Below, he heard the shutter snapping. 

“Keep its attention, I’m going to get closer!” Killua yelled. In answer Gon bounced on the branch, pretending to fall. The beast leapt twenty feet in the air, nearly catching him, but Gon pulled himself to a higher branch in time. He hadn’t expected a jump like that from something that looked like a cross between a bear and a poodle. 

“Did you get the photo?” He called out. 

“Yeah, and our stuff too. Head for the cliffs, we’ll climb up from there.”

“OK.” 

They met at the top with a high five. The beast was - surprisingly for something so large and aggressive - a new species according to their camera’s database. A day they’d written off as a vacation had resulted in their largest discovery yet. They watched it from the top of the cliffs, trying to add to their field notes. At the end of the day Killua wanted to follow it back to its nest but Gon convinced him they should report back to Kite first. 

They relied on Gon’s nose to lead them back to the campsite. For the first time in a while, Killua felt truly at peace. He could envision himself doing this kind of work with Gon for a long time and never getting bored.

***

At the campsite that night, Kite scolded them a little, but not too much. He warned them that beasts in this area could be dangerous, even for Hunters, and that they should’ve stayed within earshot. However, he gave a nod of approval at how they had handled themselves in the field.

It was completely different from the time Kite had rescued Gon on Whale Island. Back then, Gon had been a child in over his head. But he was a professional now, a fully licensed Hunter, as qualified as any member of their group to be here. 

Besides, he had Killua now to keep him from doing anything stupid. Gon knew what he was capable of but with Killua by his side he was capable of so much more. 

Their eyes met across the fire. Killua gave him a grin and he smiled back. His friend seemed relaxed, he’d been laughing and talking to Lin about how the day had gone for them. Gon was proud of him: when they’d met Killua would have held back more and probably would not have even pretended to be interested in Lin’s side of the conversation. 

And that wasn’t the only way Killua had changed. His account to Kite had been matter-of-fact, not exaggerating or bragging. He was an adult too, they’d both grown up so much since meeting each other. 

Without Killua, he wouldn’t have made it this far - and maybe the same was true for Killua, too? 

Gon resolved then and there to never let Killua forget how much he appreciated him.

***

“We need to discuss a possible change to our mission,” Kite told the group. 

Killua and Gon sat respectfully together on one side of the campfire, between Banana and Mon. Spinner popped a bubble and twirled her hair while Stick Dinner put down his ladle and leaned in. It was clear that the whole group respected Kite’s leadership. 

“We’re going back to the waterfall, right?” Killua asked. “Me and Gon took notes, but we aren’t Beast hunters.” 

“For amateurs, your notes were good,” Kite said. “Gon especially has a good eye for details that add to our understanding.” Killua watched Gon swell with pride. He might not have ever been praised for his forestry skills, Killua realized. 

“But yes, I’d like to know more about these creatures. Do they hunt alone? What is the range of their territory? Do they have large litters, or small ones? We also need to evaluate their threat level, and include an assessment for any future groups that decide to continue the research.”

The rest of the group was nodding and Gon seemed intent, as if he was already formulating a plan. Killua wanted that for him; and besides, a hunt for a big and potentially dangerous predator sounded like fun. “So what’s the problem?”

“This is a more dangerous mission that what we’d agreed as a group, so we’ll each need to decide how much risk we’re willing to take on.”

“Me and Killua can track it,” Gon said. Killua noticed he hadn’t been asked, but he was in agreement. He nodded. 

“OK, you two are qualified. But we need to discuss protocols. For instance, you’ll need to stay within my sight at all times. And we’ll need a way to communicate with those remaining at camp and protect it.”

“Leave the camp to me and Podungo,” Banana said. “I’d like to continue with the smaller animals. We can lay traps that will stop the beasts from approaching without being too annoying for us.” Podungo nodded, she was the resident expert on setting traps. 

“M-me too,” Lin said. “I’ll leave the big beasts to the Hunters.”

“I’ll come with you guys,” Mon said to Gon and Killua. “I’m a Hunter in training.” 

“Me too,” Spinner said. “But I’d like to hang back and observe from a distance. I’m not confident about my defense yet.” 

“OK, this should work,” Kite said. “We can start tomorrow, but first, let’s run through some scenarios and come up with a way to signal each other…” 

***

Killua was tracking Gon, but without much luck. Gon was very good at hiding his tracks. That just made it more fun, though, and took his mind off the fact that after scouting the watering hole for three days, they still hadn’t caught sight of the beast, or even found any tracks more recent than their first encounter with it, washed out by the rain that had fallen that night. 

“If you look for obvious signs, footprints or broken twigs, you won’t find anything with a seasoned tracker like Gon,” Kite told him. "They’ll step on fallen leaves and tree roots to avoid leaving traces. You need to look for more subtle clues.“

"Like what?” Killua asked. Gon respected this man, so to show his trust in Gon’s judgement he was also listening. 

“Do you see this pile of leaves? At this time of year, it should be about the height of your ankle. It’s depressed a bit; that tells you someone stepped here recently."

Killua looked carefully: the pile did seem lower than other piles nearby. “I’ll remember that, thanks."

“Gon is doing all of this instinctively, he has a good sense for how the forest should normally look. That gives him a good sense for when something is different.”

“Yeah,” Killua said. He’d actually asked Gon to teach him forest tracking before, but Gon wasn’t always able to explain how he did things, or at least not in a way that would help someone else. Killua let a fond smile come out. They really were different. Killua had an older sibling’s habit of organizing his thoughts for others… which was weird, because he’d never been very close to Kalluto.

“You two are close,” Kite observed. “He relies on you to help him.”

“We help each other,” Killua said truthfully. "He’s probably the only person who really tries to understand me.“ Others didn’t try to understand, only to use - he’d come to that conclusion recently, after seeing just how much Gon trusted him to plan their journey. To put that much trust in Killua, an assassin, when Gon had his own thoughts and way of doing things, was something Killua didn’t take lightly. He often felt he had no idea who he really was - or wanted to be - but despite that, Gon was still somehow able to _see_ him and to accept him. Would anyone else ever match that? Even now he knew Gon was keeping half an eye out for him, just like he was keeping half an eye out for Gon.

"I have to admit,” Kite said, “I thought it would be a good idea to split the teams, and see how much you could do apart from each other. But if I’d seen the synergy, I might have kept you together.”

“Thanks,” Killua said. This was normal, he and Gon were always attracting mentors who saw their potential together. They didn’t need the validation, but he’d often caught himself wondering, especially recently, what it would be like to continue that teamwork forever. What would it be like to always have a partner? Someone he could trust implicitly? Who would always be there for Killua, just like Killua was always there for him? It was a scary, but also an exhilarating thought…

“Also, I wanted each team to have at least one seasoned tracker… Both you and Gon are better than I’d anticipated."

“Don’t underestimate us,” Killua said. “But don’t beat yourself up over it either. Gon’s more skilled than a lot of people realize.”

“You too, Killua…. You don’t have as much outdoor experience, but you’ve tracked before.”

“I played games of shadow from age three onward,” Killua said truthfully. “But the object was to hunt people, not animals. People usually leave more of a trace.”

“I agree,” Kite said, and something about the tone had Killua reevaluating Gon’s old mentor. He was unlike Wing or even Bisuke: something cold lay at the heart of him, something that told Killua he would not hesitate to kill if necessary. 

Maybe it was that he never let his guard down. He was similar to Killua in that way. Idly, Killua wondered if there was some dark past to this man, but it didn’t seem worth it to bring it up. Everyone was entitled to their own secrets, and he was kind to his subordinates and to Gon.

Especially, Killua was coming to understand how important Kite was to Gon, both as his own person and as a connection to Gon’s father. That was enough for the moment. 

If Gon could trust this man, then so could he. 

***

A low, whooping call woke them in the early hours of the morning. That was the signal. Without speaking, Gon and Killua broke down camp and covered all signs of their presence. Then, they made their way silently through the woods to the source of the sound. Gon took the forest floor, fading from one tree to another, while Killua followed silently from the treetops. 

As they traveled, they heard the sound again, this time from further away. After a quick exchange of glances, they continued. They’d soon be too far away from Kite, Spinner and Mon’s campsite to call for help… but still within earshot of the low whooping call, which must have been their signal anyway. 

Another signal, even further into the woods. Killua moved to follow, but Gon stopped, furrowing his brow in confusion. Taking a risk, Killua dropped from the trees behind him. "What’s going on?“ he whispered.

“I don’t know… why are we going this way?” Gon asked. “Kite, Mon and Spinner were watching the waterfall, but that’s in the other direction.” 

“They must have seen the beast coming this way…” Killua reasoned. “This is the best lead we’ve had in three days, if we don’t follow now, we could lose our chance.” 

“Yeah, you’re right Killua.” Gon was easy to convince. Killua spared a thought for how their roles had reversed: normally Gon would be the one pressing for them to go on and he’d be the one pressing for caution. He knew that in the forest, Gon had better instincts, so he filed away Gon’s uncharacteristic caution to the back of his mind to analyze later. Right now they had to move before they lost track of the signal entirely. 

“OK, ready?”

“Ready.”

They resumed their silent track through the woods, gradually leaving the waterfall and campsite behind. 

***

Gon and Killua tracked the call for the better part of the day, without ever catching up. That in itself was worrying. Additionally, in the morning they’d been gradually heading up, but now they were heading down, toward the bottom of some large valley. That meant they were in a completely different basin from the campsite, which in the jungles of central Kakin could mean a completely different ecosystem, with new and unknown levels of threat from the local wildlife. 

They’d agreed with Kite that only one group should signal, to leave the other group as a surprise element in a confrontation, but this was getting too risky. Gon and Killua conferred and agreed that they should follow the protocol for a meet up. Gon sent the signal, a whooping cry that started low but ended high, like a question. 

However, the response they got back was the same one they’d gotten all day. Gon tried a few more times, but the result was the same - just an echo. Had they been following a mimic – one of the many plants and animals that hunted by pretending to be something it wasn’t? 

That seemed the most logical explanation. In any case, something wasn’t right. It wasn’t an easy decision and Gon argued at first, but eventually he agreed to turn back. Their instructions had been to remain within eyesight and to follow the agreed upon code. Killua knew very well, when something went wrong on a mission the right thing to do was bail out. They could always regroup and try again later. Gon might not agree, but he trusted Killua’s judgement. 

Making their way back proved more difficult than following the sound had been. They got turned around several times, and only Gon’s keen nose kept them from getting lost. As night fell, they guessed they were near the top of the ridge separating the two valleys. On the other side, there was a chance they’d be able to communicate with their beetle phones, useless until now. 

This necessitated another decision – to continue traveling, or to stop for the night. However, it seemed risky to travel at night without backup, and there was also the chance they’d lose the trail in the dark. This decision was easier. They agreed to stop and set up camp. 

***

Killua was slightly on edge as they set up the tent. But he still seemed to be mostly relaxed. Gon felt more or less the same: they should be cautious in the forest, but whatever happened to them, they could handle it together. Especially with Killua next to him, he felt competent and ready for anything 

“This is like before, isn’t it?” he asked as they laid out their sleeping bags. It was warm in the forest, and to avoid attracting attention they’d agreed to not start a campfire. But in many ways, it reminded him of the first time he’d taken Killua home with him. That had been almost a year ago now, hadn’t it? They’d gone to Whale Island in August; it was the end of May right now. 

“You mean Whale Island?” Killua asked. Gon nodded; this was one of Killua’s better qualities, he didn’t need to explain himself well for Killua to understand what he meant. 

“Yeah, kind of… the stars were out then,” Killua said. “This deep in the jungle the trees are blocking the stars. Also, back then I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life.” 

“So you know what you want to do now?” Gon asked. He settled in under the sleeping bag and Killua followed suit. It was dark in the tent but he could feel the heat from his friend next to him and it brought him a deep and profound sense of calm. 

“Maybe… I don’t know,” Killua said. “I’ve been thinking….”

Gon didn’t say anything, he just waited. Killua could be like a wild animal sometimes; Gon had a trapper’s patience.

“I’ve been thinking,” Killua said, eventually. “That it wouldn’t be that bad to stay together.” 

“Isn’t that what we’ve been doing?” Gon said. He didn’t voice any judgement; he was just curious. They’d had other people drop in and out, like Wing and Bisuke (and now Kite), but for most of the past year they’d spent nearly every day together. Even when Leorio had joined them briefly, and then Kurapika, they’d mostly decided what to do next between themselves. 

“Yeah,” Killua said. “It is… “

There was an unspoken “but”. Gon felt he could prod, but he’d need to be gentle. He’d often hoped that Killua would open up to him more, but he never wanted to press the issue. He knew his friend had certain topics that he was comfortable discussing, but only in his own time and on his own terms. 

“I like spending time with you,” Gon told Killua instead. “You’re the most important person in my life... you’re always helping me and I feel better when I’m around you. I feel like I can do anything with you." 

He’d told Killua this or something similar many times before, but it wouldn’t hurt to remind him again that whatever he was feeling, it wasn’t one-sided. Gon didn’t want Killua to think that everything he was doing for Gon was just something Gon took for granted. He wanted Killua to know that Gon _saw_ all of it and appreciated it, and loved him for freely choosing to give his help to Gon. For freely choosing Gon, alone among anyone else he could have chosen. Killua was a special person, Gon felt honored to have him as a friend. 

"Argh,” Killua said. “Quit being embarrassing for a second, I’m trying to be serious.”

“So am I,” Gon said. “I’m being completely serious.” He let the words hang in the air. Killua probably knew he was being serious; he just didn’t know how to handle it. He just needs time and space probably, Gon thought, so he didn’t say anything more, just tried to get more comfortable on the ground. 

“…Yeah,” Killua said softly. “Yeah, you are serious…”

Gon felt proud. Was he finally getting through to Killua? Was Killua finally going to accept Gon’s invitation to stay with him? That this was something that didn’t need a reason, didn’t need to be defined, and didn’t need to have a time limit or an expiration date? That they didn’t need to put an asterisk on it, that Gon just enjoyed Killua’s company and enjoyed being with him? 

“…me too,” Killua said. “I enjoy spending time with you too… I want to stay together. Even after this mission is over… I want to stay together with you for… a long time.”

“Yeah,” Gon said. “Me too… I want that, too.” 

There was more he could have said, but that was enough for now. He took Killua’s hand and they fell asleep like that, holding hands.

***

They were attacked in the middle of the night by the exact creatures they’d been tracking. That was more surprising than the attack itself – somehow in four days of looking for these creatures, they’d seen not a single trace, but the second they stopped looking, they were found. Who exactly had been tracking whom? 

The creatures turned out to hunt in packs and have great teamwork. They used a lot of whistling cries, similar to the cry that had lead them astray into the valley. Something told Killua they possessed great, maybe nearly human intelligence. He felt even more justified when, after retreating to the trees, they were attacked from above. 

The attacking bird was the size of a large eagle. After a while, it was joined by a second bird and then a third. The birds whistled; after a while it became clear that they and the bears were communicating with each other. 

The need to not hurt the animals was limiting the boys’ options. For now, they were dodging easily, but if this kept up they’d get tired. Killua realized that they were actually in pretty severe danger.

“Gon!” he said. “Which way is the main camp?”

“It’s over there,” Gon said, pointing and dodging. 

“And the ravine we crossed – which way is that?”

“A little more to the right. Why, what are you thinking?”

“We need to create distance, or it’ll be us or them,” Killua said. “And then Kite can do his field research on dead animals.” There was no point sugar-coating it. He let himself fall from the branch he was on, kicked off against the tree trunk to change his trajectory and rolled beneath the claws of a bear on the ground. He kicked it back into the others before retreating back to the trees. He could easily draw blood, but in the middle of the forest that would be as good as a death sentence for these beasts. Unless they cared for their own? It was possible… 

“Yeah…” 

Killua was surprised that Gon didn’t argue. Were they becoming more similar? But no: Gon had always had a ruthlessness to him. He just tended to think through all the options before going for to kill-or-be-killed, which was often Killua’s first choice. In the back of his mind, Killua was hoping for the same thing to happen here. He didn’t feel any particular desire to kill intelligent animals who were probably only defending their territory. 

Though they’d lured him and Gon out here alone… 

“I think we just need to convince them that we’re not worth the risk,” Gon said. “They spent a lot of time setting this up… They’ll probably go away if it looks like it’s going badly for them.”

“True,” Killua winced – he’d barely managed to dodge that last attack. His sleeve was torn, maybe he was bleeding? He’d know later, right now he was too concentrated on his movements to mark it. Gon, from all appearances, was having a blast. He was definitely bleeding, but not heavily. Killua rolled his eyes but he knew how Gon felt. They were similar in that way, after all. 

“So which one? They’re covering for each other.” 

“Yeah, we need to separate them. On three?”

It would be risky to split up...risky, but probably best. “OK, one, two…”

“Three!”

Gon sprang straight for the center of the group on the ground, Killua retreated to draw the air support. He casually clipped the wing of one of them, it would probably not survive the fall but that’s how it was sometimes. He was able to completely clear the area with the birds following behind. Then, activating zetsu, he silently came back. 

When he returned to the scene, it was deserted. He frowned. Which way had the fight gone? Remembering Kite’s advice, he started to track through the woods. It was easy, Gon was leaving a clear trace for Killua to follow in footprints and, occasionally, blood on the ground. This was a little more worrying to Killua, but he kept zetsu. Gon could handle himself. 

Eventually he saw the ravine, but steeper than he remembered it, almost a vertical cliff. Gon was slowly being cornered, exactly as they’d planned to corner the animals. These beasts were, without a doubt, quite intelligent. The birds were nowhere to be seen, probably they couldn’t fly this close to the cliffside. Maybe it had been Gon’s plan all along? But he’d be trapped soon, if nothing changed. 

“Jan, ken… !!!”

The entire side of the cliff tumbled down. Cursing, Killua sprinted forward. 

***

“What the heck was that, dummy!!”

“Aha, but it worked right? Got away from the birds, trapped the bears, escaped back to camp.” 

“Way too risky, you could have been killed in the landslide!”

“Nah,” Gon said. “I had my defenses up and was ready to blast my way out.”

“If your aura held up... you were nearly out when I caught up to you.” 

“Then you would have gotten me out, Killua.” 

Killua did hit him then. “Stupid! I can’t always bail you out every time. You have to think more about your own safety.”

“I will… ow ow ow! Killua!”

Killua wasn’t in the mood to listen - there'd really been no need for Gon to go to such extremes. They could have just killed the things.

“Nope, you gotta make this up to me.”

“Sure… how?”

“Name something after me?"

“You mean, like a snake or something? Ow!”

“Something better than a snake. A majestic eagle.”

“I think Kite wanted to name that one… ow!”

“Then we’ll just have to find another one,” Killua said.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for milestonesxzine... You can order a PDF copy of the zine [here](https://gumroad.com/milestoneszine) or buy merch [here](https://www.etsy.com/shop/MilestonesZineShop?ref=seller-platform-mcnav). It's worth the money, the layout is fantastic and there are 35 awesome contributors! 
> 
> This was the first new fanfic I'd written in over seven years, so extra special thanks to the zine editors for helping me get back into fandom... thank you losing-sanity-fast, fireolin, glittercracker and autumnxsunflower! You guys rock! 
> 
> Comments appreciated here or on [tumblr](https://subdee.tumblr.com/), thank you for reading :)


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